Photo by Steve McCasland Crew members from the tug Coos Bay secure lines on the Marie Ann Gail on June 9 before towing the derelict trawler to Charleston for dismantling.

BANDON — Port of Bandon employees waved goodbye to a floating nightmare this month, when as a derelict vessel was towed to Charleston for dismantling.

Built in Canada in 1912, the 60-foot-long trawler Marie Ann Gail presumably fished West Coast waters for years before being abandoned in Bandon’s marina. After five years of moorage, the agency finally had the vessel towed to Giddings Boatworks in the Charleston Shipyard for salvage.

Based for a time in Blaine, Wash., the boat left the commercial fishing industry via a government buyout.

“The federal government bought the vessel’s documentation and fishing permit in the early 2000s as part of efforts to thin the trawl fleet,” explained Gina Dearth, port general manager.

The owner sold it to a Noti couple who dreamed of fixing it up for private use. They sailed it from Washington to Bandon in November of 2004. It wasn’t long before they suffered some financial problems and fell behind on moorage payments.

“We had to respond to late-night calls that the boat was listing or that it had broken lines that needed to be secured,” Dearth remembers. “We built that one dock specifically for the Marie Ann Gail so we could (visually) keep tabs on its floating status.”

The boat had a slow leak, requiring staff to constantly run bilge pumps.

By May 2006, the port was due nearly $4,000 in back moorage and labor and maintenance expenses, so it foreclosed and tried to sell the vessel at auction. No one bid on it.

Two purchases and subsequent salvaging efforts followed, but plans to get rid of the boat fell through. Dearth sought funding from the Oregon State Marine Board and the Department of State Lands, through a program that helps with removal of abandoned clunkers.

Dismantling will cost $17,400, of which the port will pay $4,350.

The Marie Ann Gail’s departure took place without a hitch — with Dearth heaving a sigh of relief as she watched it go.

“We’re keeping closer tabs on moorages now and on other expenses in the boat basin,” Dearth added. “And we’ll do everything in our power to make sure this never happens again.”